


not a perfect start

by thethrillof



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death, Gen, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 06:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9979862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thethrillof/pseuds/thethrillof
Summary: Frisk takes more responsibility.(Also, an encounter with an eldritch final boss and resting on a flowerbed makes them think.)





	

They killed Asgore on their own last time, so it seems sort of fair to let Toriel kill them.

Only--

"let" is the wrong word.

They maybe-love definitely-care-about Toriel and they know they have a seed of something for Asgore too already, or they wouldn't have killed him when he was on his knee. Like they were the monarch, like they were the underground's hope.

And look. Here they are, because they decided they would be, tearing everything back and taking a long rest in the flowers that broke their fall the first time.

Okay, they were lying. It wasn't fair for Toriel to kill them, to _make_ her kill them, because that's what they did.

But they remembered the glow of trapped SOULS that Asgore killed and Toriel didn't protect, and they remember screaming their throat raw for help that came for them but wasn't _right_ , and they remember Asgore's broken voice when he told them about his wife and son, and the responsibility he had, and the responsibility they've chosen to take, and the child that fell remembers hate with a fierce clarity that they push past but can't quite keep from burning in their belly.

Which is why they stand in front of her, keeping their filthy bandage on instead of the faded ribbon they stuffed in hiding, and watch the flames dance across the space between them to meteor-crash into their SOUL. Over and over and over again.

They wonder if SOULS turn into dust. Theirs breaks, but they can't really stay and watch what happens to the pieces.

Toriel stares through them, and they take the last hit she'll allow them to. The rest are scare tactics, too-too-too late, and yes they're going to be responsible, they're going to use their power to help, yes they want to do that, yes--

\--but that doesn't mean there's nothing but graceful acceptance. After all, that's not what **determination** is, they'll decide later.

The toy knife is clenched in a hand that's not slicked with sweat yet, and it's not shaking at all even when they watch the pale flames' reflection in the dull plastic.

It's nothing like the worn dagger.

Staring defiantly upward, they decide they'll sell it. The dagger felt better. Less cheap. Fit right in their hand, unlike this one.

Toriel's flames storm around them, and they wait, and they wait--

\--and they _charge_. Hands flung out, plastic thing falling from their hand, it's the best way for them to expose their SOUL. It's really not their intention to make it look like they're running to her for a desperate hug with their overbright eyes.

And she tries to stop, she really does, and they appreciate it, but she fails, and oh, her magic feels just like the husband they think she human-hates when they're this fragile.

Toriel fails herself again, and the image of her covering her mouth in horror isn't going to leave them for a long time.

Frisk doesn't regret killing Asgore; Frisk doesn't regret the RESET; Frisk isn't going to start just for this, even if their stride back to the basement-escape is filled with fits and starts and they imagine playing in the red leaves forever and ever, and when Toriel looks at them wrong and they know some of her's hiding from what just happened, again, and Frisk chews on _responsibility_  and _family_ like it's a poison-laced piece of gum they're saving for later. 

And maybe they are. Maybe they won't agree to stay with her even if they don't really have a place to be, maybe they'll tell her just why that is--but that'll come later. For now, they have friends to re-meet and re-love and re-entirely-SAVE.


End file.
